


Shining Through

by BossToaster (ChaoticReactions)



Series: Don't Let's Start Adjacent [8]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Gen, Lion Swap
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-11
Updated: 2018-05-11
Packaged: 2019-05-05 12:50:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,175
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14618970
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ChaoticReactions/pseuds/BossToaster
Summary: Now that Allura can fly a second lion, it's time to give a full lion swap a shot.It's going to take some adjustments.





	Shining Through

Shiro took a deep breath, then let it out slowly.  His fingers curled tightly around the lion’s controls, and he could feel the familiar hum beneath his fingers.  With his eyes closed, he could almost believe this was the same as every other flight.

Except when he opened his eyes, the cockpit was a vivid red.  And when he felt beyond the low purr of the connection, he didn’t get Black’s regal, steady reassurance.  Instead it was like trying to hold smoke and quicksilver.

The Red Lion’s presence hummed, then pulled up and above, like it was asking what Shiro was waiting for.

What  _ was _ Shiro waiting for?

Nothing, honestly.  He was just feeling.  Getting a sense of the changes, the differences between this lion and his usual.

With that, Shiro shifted his grip on the controls and pushed forward.

The Red Lion responded beautifully.  When they’d flown for the first time, Shiro had been awed by the immediacy of the lions.  Compared to the clunky, lifeless ships of Earth, the lions changed course and turned at the speed of thought.

But the Black Lion didn’t feel like this.  Shiro understood now why the Red Lion was tied to instinct.  There was no time for second guessing here. One second he was focusing on flying out of the hangar, and then he was there.  It was unlike the Black Lion’s comparable weight, both physically and metaphorically. This was not a lion for considering all possible options and carefully weighing them.  This was a lion for action.

The difference left Shiro both dazzled and off balance.

A snort that ruffled his bangs was Shiro’s answer.  He’d be fine, apparently. Red wouldn’t have turned on at all if he wasn’t up for the challenge.  A memory passed by behind his eyes, of the first time Shiro had been behind the controls of a simulator.  He’d understood the procedure in theory, but it wasn’t until he had his fingers on the levers that he’d understood.  It had clicked, intuitive and immediate, and Shiro had rocketed to the top of his class.

“How’s everyone doing?” Ryou asked, his amused face appearing on the screen.  “I see Shiro, and- yeah, there’s Pidge.”

Pidge’s face appeared next, her brow furrowed deeply.  The blue of her cockpit, mixed with the green of her armor, gave the whole image a very sea-like effect.  Appropriate. “I’m here. It’s definitely weird.”

“Weird’s a good word for it,” Shiro agreed, keeping his voice mild as possible.  “Hunk, Princess? Everything okay?”

There was a long pause, then Hunk appeared next.  His face was pressed in close to the camera, and his eyes were narrowed.  “Yeah, it lit up and everything. I, uh… I mean, I’ll fix it, but there’s a little bit of a dent.  Green’s way lighter. And darker. It’s so dark in here.”

“Green’s not dark!”

Shrugging, Ryou gave a grin.  “Yellow’s definitely the brightest, Pidge, sorry.  Really warm light. Red might be close, but I’ve never been inside, so hard to say.”  The Yellow Lion rolled, settling on its back instead and stretching the legs out. “Part of why Yellow is the best.”

“Oh, enough,” Shiro said, rolling his eyes right back.  He’d try to bump Yellow to give Ryou a good warning jolt, but that was probably less advised in Red.  Not as much mass.

The displeased rumble he got agreed with the assessment.  Red was not a ramming vehicle, please.

So instead Shiro frowned back at the castle.  “Princess?”

“Um.”  The response came from the helmet, not Red’s screen.  “Yes. I’m alright. Just… perhaps another minute?”

“Something wrong?” Pidge asked.  “I thought you were supposed to be good with Black now.”

“That’s what Yellow said.”  Ryou tilted his head and frowned.  “I really don’t think he was wrong.”

Shiro still wasn’t sure why Ryou had heard that from Yellow.  He’d heard about the potential combinations from Black, but Black was also the head.  It made sense for him to know all about the different possible combinations. To hear from Yellow about what Black would allow seemed like a strange combination.  But Ryou and Allura had been so excited at the idea, and the opportunity to try out Red had been far too interesting to pass up.

The new rumble in his mind nudged the idea, encouraging him along the path.  Rapid, intuitive connections were something that Red approved of, it seemed. Even so, Shiro let it go.  If it was a problem he could ask Black later, and he didn’t want to prod too much and cause discord in the team.  This exercise was going to be difficult enough as it was.

Allura sighed.  “I’m not sure. There might not be a problem at all.  I’m simply preparing myself.”

Oh, she sounded nervous.

Shiro hadn’t been around when she’d flown a lion for the first time, so he didn’t know how it compared.  But he could understand the feeling of looking up at Black and feeling small. The Black Lion was a heavy crown, and the only reason Shiro had reached out so quickly was because of the danger.  

So he switched to a private channel between Allura and himself.  “Are you alright, Princess?”

Allura took a deep breath, then let it out.  “Yes. It’s-” She paused, then let out a breathy laugh.  “It’s silly, isn’t it? But I’m frightened it won’t work.”

“That’s not silly at all,” Shiro replied, his voice gentling.  “It’s very reasonable. No one likes rejection, especially not from ships that see into your soul.”

That startled another laugh out of Allura, stronger this time.  “That’s a dramatic way of putting it, but I suppose not.” Another pause, then she cleared her throat.  “What does it feel like?”

Shiro considered the question, closing his eyes.  “Humbling,” he finally replied. “You’re the leader, but it doesn’t feel like power.  It feels like responsibility. Black is heavy, because he needs to be. Zarkon thought he was stronger, bigger.  I never want to feel like that. I’m a little afraid every time I sit in Black, and I want to stay that way. And it’s worth it every time we fly out and do good somewhere, or just come back home together.  I know you understand the feeling, and I think you’ll do great in Black.”

Around him, Red’s lights brightened, and the rumble increased.  It still wasn’t the strength or depth of the connection with Black, but Shiro felt like Red approved anyway.

Apparently he was being a good right hand.  Huh.

There was another shaky breath.  “I do understand. Thank you, Shiro.”

“Anytime, Princess.”

The connection went quiet.  Shiro waited, and hoped with his whole heart that Ryou’s information was accurate.

Then a new screen appeared.  Allura beamed at them, bathed in the dark purple light of Black.  “It worked!”

“Told you,” Ryou called, grinning widely.  “Of course it worked.”

Pidge whooped and pumped her fist.  “Awesome! Let’s get this show on the road.  I want to test out the sonic canon. All that information at my fingertips, no needing to transfer it.  I’m so excited.”

“Training first,” Shiro reminded, chest warm and fuzzy with fondness.  “Now, team, let’s-”

Red went dead.

Shiro scrambled at the controls, jamming them forward and back.  “Red? What’s wrong?”

The answer felt like a flick to the nose.

Stilling, Shiro crossed his eyes as if he could see what had hit him.  Then he frowned. It was like scolding a dog, but-

Oh, he’d been taking over, hadn’t he?

“You could have just said,” Shiro muttered, scowling at the screens.

The answer he got was barely a flicker.  This was Red telling him. Get used to it and keep moving.

Fine, fine.  Shiro would let Allura lead.  Jeez.

Finally, the screens turned back on.

“-iro?”  Hunk’s eyes were wide and worried on screen.  “There you are! What happened?”

There was a snort, and a new screen appeared.  This one showed the control room. Lance was flopped back in his blue paladin seat, feet up on the console, and Keith leaned against the back of the chair.

“He was acting like he was still in Black,” Keith said, one brow raised.  “So he got a warning.”

Lance snickered, and stretched his arms out in front of him, fingers laced.  The knuckles cracked disgustingly loudly, but Lance ignored Keith’s crinkled nose and scowl.  “Shiro’s going to have to let someone else form Voltron. Maybe we’ll watch him pull a Ryou and try to backseat drive everyone.”

“Hey,” Ryou called, but his voice was mild.  “Technically, I thought I was Shiro, then. So it should be pulling a Shiro.  Get it right.”

“Good point.  Maybe he’ll pull a Shiro.”

Sighing, Shiro pinched the bridge of his nose.  “Princess, would you please start? If only to shut them up.”

Allura smiled, still glowing with her triumph, despite Shiro’s minor scare.  “I’m not sure even I can do that.”

“Not a power in the ‘verse can stop them,” Pidge drawled.  She grinned at the screen, and Shiro smiled back, amused at the reference.

Clearing her throat, Allura drew herself up.  “But yes, let’s begin. We’ll start with basic controls.  Let’s all do a few laps in formation to get used to our changed speeds.”

Finally righting Yellow, Ryou nodded agreeably.  “Well, your changed speeds. I’m here to babysit.”

“Babysitting, really?  Oh please.” Pidge rolled her eyes.  “They’re still lions.”

Crossing his arms, Lance shook his head.  “Easy for you to say. You’ve been flying the two most similar lions.  Everyone else has a big change coming. Trust me. Good luck, Shiro. Don’t crash.”

“Shiro can handle it,” Keith said.  “He taught me, and Red flies like I do.”

Smiling back, Shiro settled his hands on the controls.  “I’ll do my best.” Honestly, he was fairly confident in his ability to handle Red.  Black could go plenty fast, and Shiro’s expertise was in handling high-speed vehicles.  “On your mark, Princess.”

“Right.”  Allura raised her chin, shoulders straight.  “Keep pace with me.” With that, she shot off.  On screen, her eyes widened, like it wasn’t quite at the speed she’d expected, but it was quickly hidden.

Shiro smiled at pushed forward to follow.

Only to immediately shoot past her like a comet.  The castle’s towers loomed suddenly huge and dangerous.

Heart pounding in this throat, Shiro threw the controls into a spin.  He got Red turned around in time, and instead used the momentum to jump off.  He heard metal rend under the Red Lion’s claws, though, despite how delicate he tried to be.

Oops.

As Shiro straightened out his flight path, Lance burst into gleeful laughter.  “It wasn’t just me!” On screen, he threw both his hands up and kicked his feet out in front of him.  “Hah!”

“I wasn’t aware this was some sort of competition,” Shiro replied, voice going prim.  He coasted Red toward the group, head held high as he held onto the tattered rags of his dignity.  

Keith snorted.  “You’ve met Lance, right?  Everything’s a competition.  He makes cleaning a fight.”

“It’s not my fault I do a better job than you.”  Lance crossed his arms, still grinning. “You get to tell Coran that you scratched up the towers.”

Shiro finally cracked and showed his scowl.  “I wasn’t planning on hiding it or putting it on anyone else.”  He finally caught up to everyone else, then had to roll to avoid getting slammed in the side by Green.  “Hunk?”

“Sorry!”  Hunk’s arms were held out all the way, locked and tensed.  It was worse than the first time he’d flown Yellow. That time, Shiro had specifically taken him aside and given him tips, as the only member of the paladins who had never even wanted to be a pilot.  Apparently those lessons had gone out the window once he switched lions. “It’s just… Green just moves! Every little shift! I keep drifting. I feel really small.”

“You are really small.”  Yellow turned in place, holding the paws on either side of Green.  Just the claws matched from the tip of Green’s nose to most of the shoulders.  “Bitty. Lookit you.”

Hunk’s bottom lip stuck out.  “I miss being big.”

“Hey, don’t make fun of being little.”  Pidge held her chin up, like she was imitating Shiro’s posture.  “Maybe if you were in a smaller lion you wouldn’t hit stuff all the time.”

“I like hitting stuff!  It breaks and I’m fine.”

Ryou grinned and nodded. “It’s really fun.”

A cleared throat made them all stop.  “I believe you were supposed to be flying in formation,” Allura reminded them all, her eyes sharp over the screen.  There was a hint of a curl to her lips, a sign that she wasn’t as stern as she was trying to sound.

But that didn’t mean she wasn’t to be obeyed. “Of course, Princess.”  Shiro immediately settled on her right side. It felt painfully slow to keep pace with her, and he wasn’t sure if it was because Red was built for speed, or if it was because Allura was going slow to adjust to Black.  Possibly both.

If this was how it felt like to fly this lion all the time, Shiro suddenly had far, far more empathy for the way Keith shot off on his own.  It was like being stuck behind a car going ten miles under the speed limit.

With Allura and Shiro both on task, the other three sighed and got back into formation as well.  It was odd, to look over at Green and not think Pidge, and even more strange to fly in the middle of the pack.  It required careful modulation of his speed, and keeping a close eye out in case Hunk drifted again. But after a few laps, they were at least capable of flying in tandem.

Settled back in his chair, Lance gave them a cheerfully sarcastic round of applause.  “Look at you guys!” He cooed. “You’re starting to get it.”

Shiro started to reply, but then shut his mouth.  It wasn’t his job to keep Lance in line right now.  It was his job to support Allura and fly the Red Lion.

Weird.

“If you cannot help the need to comment, I will mute you,” Allura warned, one brow raised imperiously.  “I do not believe you’ll enjoy speaking if there’s no one but Keith there to listen.”

Shiro’s hand came up to cover his mouth and hide his smile.  

“Oooh, she’s got you pegged, Buddy,” Ryou said, utterly cheerful.  “You’ll be miserable.”

Lance’s smug smile fell away as he crossed his arms.  “I was congratulating you guys. Jeez.”

“No you weren’t, but whatever.”  Pidge let go of the controls and clasped her hands in front of her.  “Before we form Voltron, can we play with the new toys? Please, Princess?”

Allura choked out a laugh.  “You’re drifting. Keep hold of the controls, if you please.”  When Pidge straightened her flight out, she nodded. “Alright. What was it you wanted to do?”

“Sonic canon!”  Pidge pulled away immediately, nearly doing a flip in her excitement.  Then she turned the Blue Lion to face the castle.

Nothing happened.

“You don’t just get the canon like that!”  Lance huffed, arms still tightly crossed. “You gotta earn it.  You gotta woo my girl. Don’t just demand things from her.”

Pidge groaned.  “Right! Man. Allura got it so fast that I forgot.”  She ignored Lance’s darker glare. “What do you do to unlock it, then?  Allura?”

“Well, we were in quite a lot of danger that time,” Allura said.  “I think that might have had something to do with it.” But a sly smile crossed her lips.  “However, I did try some pick-up lines to see if that would help. I can’t say either way, but it was right before the canon began to work.”

Laughter filled the comms.  “No way!” Hunk cried, knocking the back of his helmet against the pilot’s chair.  “Oh, man, that’s amazing.”

“Yeah, no, not doing that.”  Pidge closed her eyes as she snickered.  “We corrupted a princess. Oh no. This is what the aliens have learned from humanity.”

“What pick-up line?”  Ryou’s brows rose in open interest as he regarded Allura.  “It wasn’t the one about the body being out of this world, right?”

Shiro crinkled his nose.  “Oh, that one’s horrible.”

“Right?”

Keith cleared his throat.  “Guys, I think if you keep teasing that Lance might pop.”

Indeed, Lance’s cheeks had gone a bright red.  He looked utterly torn between delight and mortification at Allura’s methods of being a better Blue Paladin.

“Sorry, Lance.”  Shiro didn’t quite manage to sound contrite.  Instead he pulled back as well and closed his eyes, reaching out to the Red Lion.  He doubted he’d be able to use that rail gun that he’d only seen Keith use once. But there was a power that Keith had from almost the start.

The mouth opened, and a column of flames erupted from the Red Lion.

“So that’s how that works,” Shiro said, settling back mildly.  “I always wondered. Only Red and Blue can do anything similar, which is a shame.”

Keith’s expression softened and a smile curled up on his lips.  “You had the jaw blade right away. That does more damage.”

“But it’s not as cool as breathing fire like a dragon.”

Hunk’s head bobbed. “He’s got a point.”

Sighing, Pidge slumped as she gave up on the sonic canon for now.  Instead she let out her own burst of ice, and that drew a smile from her.  “Yeah, that does feel pretty cool. I miss my vines, though. You want to give those a shot, Hunk?  You just need to think like the Olkari do.”

“How about I get comfortable flying in Green first?”  Hunk wrinkled his nose. “I don’t think I can make my brain work like that and fly in a straight line.  Not yet.”

“Then how about we get to the main event?”    Ryou rolled his shoulders as Yellow settled back into place behind Black.  

Allura nodded and straightened again.  “Yes, that’s what we really need to master today.  Let’s focus on that, and if we have time after we can work on individual powers.  Everyone…” She paused, her smile growing and eyes brightening. “Form Voltron!”

As they all flew together and began to shift, Shiro bit the inside of his cheek to keep from smiling.  He didn’t understand the other’s fascination with the phrase and getting to say it, but Allura’s enthusiasm was infectious.

The connection took hold, and Shiro hesitated.  Not out of confusion or lack of interest, but simply because it was habit to stay still and let the others circle around him.  A nudge in his mind set him moving again, just a split second behind Hunk.

Shiro found himself bracing, preparing for the energy engagement that he always felt.  But there was no tug on his quintessence - just the feeling of the other paladins.

Huh.

On screen, Allura blinked several times in a row, clearly adjusting to the feeling.  “Yes, that is different,” she murmured, so quietly that Shiro wasn’t sure she’d meant to say it out loud.

“It really is,” Keith agreed flatly.

Lance’s brows rose.  “Yeah? How’s it weird?  Why’s Black different?”

There was a pause, as they all instinctively waited for Allura to respond.  But her gaze was still distant, clearly distracted by either the sensation or the Black Lion speaking to her.

“It’s tiring,” Keith said.  “Heavier. When you’re a limb, you just are.  But when you’re in Black, it’s like you’re doing the core lifting for everyone.  The Black Lion doesn’t do the punching or the kicking, but it holds everyone together.”

Shiro’s eyes went wide.  “Oh! That’s why it feels off.”  He paused, then frowned. “Are you alright, Allura?”

“Yes,” she said, immediately straightening.  “I simply needed a moment to adjust.” Despite her words, there was still tension around her eyes and down her arms.

Allura could handle it.  Black wouldn’t have let her in the seat if she couldn’t, like Ryou had been stonewalled.  But Shiro would keep an eye on her after, and see if he couldn’t get her to break a break or eat something.

A rumble ran through him, showing Red’s approval of the idea.

“So, hey, question,” Ryou said.  “Can any of you use your bayard in your new lions yet?”

There was a long pause, as Shiro looked for the bayard slot.  The space where it would be was pulled back and covered with a panel.

Oh.  Not that Shiro used his regularly in Voltron anyway, outside of the fully unlocked blazing sword.  But that was strange.

“Nope,” Pidge replied, biting her bottom lip.  “Still no sonic canon. This sucks.”

“I can’t make a cannon?”  Hunk’s eyes went wide. “Ryou, quickly, switch places with me.”

Ryou stuck out his tongue and crossed his arms.  “No way. You eject into space and see how that goes for you.”

Allura cleared her throat, snapping their attention back to her.  “Well, we can still practice without any of the bayard weapons.”

“What did we do before those?” Lance breathed.  His nudged Keith with his elbow. “You had yours right away, right?  Have we ever fought without one?”

Keith shook his head.  “No, I unlocked it during the Myzax fight, remember?”

“Before that we just…”  Hunk mimed taking a punch.  The Green Lion arm started to shift back, making him yelp.  “I was just showing! Woah, there. We punched stuff really hard.  Like Sendak’s ship.”

It was true, but it was so far back and so silly for the greatest weapon in the universe that a snort escaped Shiro.  Then another one, until he was snickering into his hands. “We beat Sendak just by punching really hard. We were so bad at this.”

Allura startled to giggle next, though she tried to hide it behind a hand.  “You struggled a bit, yes. You got better.”

Next, Hunk gave into laughter, followed a few seconds later by Pidge.  Lance joined in as well, and he nudged at Keith when he cracked a smile too.

It was nice to realize how far they’d come, and how absurd their start was.  The seven of them against the entire Galra empire. They had Voltron, but a Voltron that could barely form and only punched and shielded.  Oh, except for-

“Wait, no, we had one more thing.”  Shiro pressed his lips together, fighting to keep his expression neutral.  “We could kick, too.”

“No, we couldn’t!”  Pidge let out a howl of laughter, practically sliding to the floor in Blue’s chair.

Lance covered his face, though he was still laughing so hard he was snorting.  “It was our first day! No one else was any better. The kick was a great idea.”

“Maybe not against Myzax’s energy ball,” Keith drawled, eyes bright.

Allura placed a hand over her chest as she regained her composure.  Now her cheeks were flushed and her eyes were wet with laughter, a far better look than the strained tension of before.  “Yes, well, I hope we can do a better job of that now. Ryou, Pidge, would you like to give the kick a shot?”

“No way.”  Pidge held her hand out and shook her head so hard she nearly dislodged the helmet.  “I’d rather not upend Voltron and send us spinning.”

“You couldn’t do as good a job as me anyway,” Lance called.

Pidge’s eyes narrowed.  “On second thought…”

But Ryou grinned and held up a finger.  “I can do you one better than a kick. How’s this?”  With that, he jabbed his arm to the side, and there was a powerful hum.

A flash of light covered Shiro’s vision for a moment.  When it cleared, there was something bright yellow and hazy obscuring his vision.  A moment later, Red’s view’s adjusted, and a new camera angle from the castle’s perspective popped up.

Voltron had long, yellow claws erupting from each of the limbs.

“We’re space Wolverine,” Ryou informed them, grinning widely.  “Or, I guess space X-23?”

Allura’s wide-eyed interest fell away into confusion.  “We’re what?”

“It’s a reference,” Pidge said.  “Cool! Okay, yeah, I’ll kick if I can hit with giant claws.”

Hunk tilted his head and leaned forward, like he was scrolling readouts on his screen.  “That’s cool. I didn’t know any bayard could affect other limbs.”

“Yours makes a shoulder cannon,” Ryou said, brows up.

“Yes, but that’s on the shoulder.  Not on someone else’s lion’s face.”

Allura reached out and grabbed onto the controls.  A shiver of intention and direction ran through Shiro, and he could faintly sense it reaching the other paladins.  “Let’s give these a shot, then. Ready?”

“Ready,” Shiro answered, in chorus with the others.  His heart pounded in his throat as they moved into position.

“Then let’s begin.”

With a smile, Shiro took hold of the controls, and felt Red thrum eagerily.

This was strange and different.  It was out of his comfort zone for all of them.

Shiro was looking forward to it anyway.


End file.
